Potpourri and Pets Don't Mix!

The holidays are a time of cozy warm gatherings, with the delicious smell of cookies in the oven and the woodsy smell of pine tree. If you don't have cookies baking or a real tree, you can create the atmosphere by using candles or one of the many potpourri products available.

Be warned though: these products can be very dangerous to pets! Hot oils and wax poses a burn hazard. Additionally, the fragrances or essential oils used to scent the products pose a toxicity hazard, especially to cats. Several common oils are known poisons to pets when ingested or when they come in contact with skin and eyes.

If a pet accidentally gets some of the oil on a paw - by spilling the product or dipping in a curious paw - and licks it off, this can be enough to make a pet sick.

Please use caution when using these products in homes with pets -- now and all year round.

More Pet Safety Tips: Pet Safety Tip Archive

Related Reading:

• Essential Oils and Cats: A Potentially Toxic Mix
  From Franny Syufy, About.com Guide to Cats
• Potpourri: Hazard to Cats
  by Jill A. Richardson, DVM, Veterinary Poison Information Specialist, ASPCA/National Animal Poison Control Center (PDF document)
• Pretty Packs a Painful Punch: The Danger of Liquid Potpourri To Pets
  From the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center

Image credit: "Dewey and a candle" © angela n. on Flickr

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